Tomboy
by mistlove
Summary: Gray wouldn’t say that Ezra has no appeal to her face, would he?


NO PERVERTED COMMENTS AND OR REQUESTS IN REVIEWS. RUDE REVIEWS WILL RESULT IN THE STORY BEING TAKEN DOWN. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE AUTHOR.

**Title:** Tomboy  
**Summary: **Gray wouldn't say that Ezra has no appeal to her face, would he?  
**Author:** mistlove  
**Copyrights:** Plot is mine. Everything else belongs to Hiro Mashima.  
_ _ _ _ _

"Ezra... can you come over here?" Lucy tugged her redheaded friend over to the space under the stairs.

Ezra followed her confusedly. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"Can you stay here with me for awhile?" Lucy grinned brightly, but Ezra sensed some mischief behind it.

She tugged her arm free from the blonde's grasp. "What is it?"

Lucy's cheerful expression vanished. She looked uncomfortable, troubled. She fidgeted with her fingers, tugging at the hem of her skirt. "I... I'm waiting to hear what Gray thinks of me... and I'm scared of what he'll say."

Ezra's eyes widened. "What?"

"I... um, I asked Loki to ask Gray for me how he feels about me..." She shifted her feet, staring at the ground. "I was... planning on listening here."

The redheaded frowned. "Be courageous and ask him yourself!" She grabbed Lucy's arm, turning on her heel. "Come!"

"N-No!" Lucy cried, retrieving her arm from the armor mage's firm grasp. "Please Ezra... just bear with me..." She put her face in her hands, her small frame shaking.

"Lucy... all right." She knew it would be wrong to push her friend if she was this scared. Ezra leaned against the stairs, giving the blonde a pat on the shoulder. "Gray would be a fool to reject you. You're very able, Lucy. Don't worry about it."

"R-Really?" Lucy peeked out from behind her fingers.

Ezra smiled warmly. "I'm sure. Look, I think Loki's asking him."

The stellar spirit leaned back against the counter lazily. "Hey, Gray! Can I talk to you for a moment?" Loki called, motioning the ice mage over. For once, he wasn't surrounded by his fans.

With a raised eyebrow, the fully-clothed raven-haired paced over and sat down at the bar seat next to him. "What's up?"

"Ohh... I can't look." Lucy turned her back to Ezra.

"Make sure you listen," Ezra scolded, tugging at the blonde's ear lightly.

"I am! I just... can't look."

Loki grinned as he sipped his drink. "Just thought I'd collect your opinion on something."

"Okay... go on." He leaned his side against the counter, propping his chin on the palm of his hand.

"What do you think about _Ezra_?"

The armor mage blinked. She turned slowly to glare at Lucy's back. "Lucy... what is the meaning of this?"

"Ooh, Ezra, what's he saying about me?" Lucy squeaked, her body starting to tremble dangerously.

Ezra was starting to shake now too. With _anger_ naturally. Of course they were going to say _wonderful _things about her so there was no problem there, she knew. But she hated being played like that. She slipped her hand onto Lucy's shoulder.

"_Lucy_..."

"Wh-What did he say?" Lucy continued feebly her attempt to act, her back still turned to the mage.

Loki stared at his cup dreamily, circling the top of the cup lazily with his fingers. "She's strong and pretty, right?"

Gray frowned at that before waving a hand to dismiss the thought. " Ezra? Pfft. She's such a tomboy. What kind of girl wears armor on a daily basis? She's so violent too. She has no appeal."

Ezra blinked. And then blinked again and then a third time. Was her hearing right today? She must've heard wrong.

"A-Are you kidding me?" Loki sounded horrified. "You can be h-honest with me, dude."

"What are you shaking for? You cold?" Gray slapped his arm, smirking. "You wimp." He picked up Loki's cup with his free hand and took a sip. "And I am honest. Ezra's... a total guy."

Nope. Her hearing was great. One hundred percent awesome. She could even hear the old perverted man down the street throwing a fake coughing fit to trick young ladies to come help him. Wonderful. Now she knew what Gray's so-called opinion of 'Lucy' was. She felt embarrassed and furious at the same time at his comment.

"Gray..."

The ice mage flinched at the sound of her voice. He whirled around, scanning the room quickly.

"Are you looking for me...?" Ezra walked calmly out from under the stairs and shot her deadliest glare at him. "Good morning, _Gray_."

He blinked. His legs trembling, he got up from his seat shakily. Gray backed up slowly, smiling nervously. "H-Hi, Ezra. H... How's it going?"

The entire guild had fallen silent, watching the two while feeling bad for the ice mage.

She smiled sweetly, closing the distance between them with three easy strides. "Why do you look so scared, Gray? It's not as though I'm going to _hurt_ you."

She reached up and stroked his cheek, her fingernails cutting into his skin. Blood slid down her fingers from the small cuts.

"Don't be afraid."

He laughed. It was a tense sound. "Ah ha... um... I'm not afraid of you, Ezra. W-Why would I be...?"

"Oh... I don't know." She licked the blood off her fingers with an evil smile. "Perhaps you are scared... because of what you said about me earlier."

Gray looked like he was going to pass out any minute now. Sweat slid down his face. "I... I don't know what you're... talking about."

"Oh really?" Ezra raised a delicate eyebrow at that. "Gray, I promise I won't hurt you. Say it again," she insisted with a smirk. "Tell me what you said earlier."

Gray must've been scared of what would happen to him if he didn't listen to her. He was told by Makarov, that when in doubt with Ezra, listen to what she tells you to do. Or you'll regret it later. Big-time.

He gulped. "I told Loki... that you're a... tomboy."

It was completely silent in the whole guild. You could even hear the perverted old man still pretending to cough outside.

Ezra smiled a smile that could've been an angel's. She turned to the guild with that sweet smile. They shuffled a little, alarmed. How on earth could she manage such a heavenly smile when her eyes looked at them like they were going to rot in the pits of hell?

"I ask of all of you... do you think I could change Gray's romantic opinion of me within a week's time?"

A gasp ran through the guild members.

"I know it must seem odd of me to ask this question." She ran a hand through her fiery red hair. "But since Gray obviously thinks I can't, I would like to propose a... _bet._"

Silence.

"W-What kind of bet?" Levy managed to ask.

_Levy, you brave soul!_ Gray thought as he shuffled slowly to the door.

Ezra smiled. "I'm glad you asked, Levy. If Gray admits I'm beautiful before the week ends, then I win. If I can't get him to say that, I will treat everyone in the guild to a party. I will also ask the master to move Gray up to the second floor. It is as simple as that. So..." She snatched the ice mage's shirt, pulling him back. "how about it, Gray?"

"Y-Your wish is my command, Ezra-sama." He put his hands up defensively.

"Alright then... the bet starts now." Ezra closed her eyes. Her clothes disappeared for a moment before her black armor enveloped her body.

Gray decided now would be a good time to pray for forgiveness. He smiled fearfully up at her.

"Gray, I ask of you... am I plain with no appeal whatsoever?" she asked, looming over him wearing an expression that the devil might have had on a bad day.

"E-Ezra..."

"_Gray, I am talking to you._"

"N-No, of course not...," he squeaked with a nervous laugh. "You're gorgeous, Ezra."

"I thought as much."

The black armor vanished, returning to her normal apparel. She paced over to the request board, scanned it quickly and snatched a request in a nearby town off the board. With one last glare at the ice mage, she strode out the guild door.

There was a long silence. Then the entire guild burst out laughing, jeering at Gray playfully.

"Aw Gray, you got owned!"

"Dude, stupidity has its limits! You almost got us all killed!"

"Sucker! Ezra just pushed you to eat your own words!"

"I almost feel bad for you!"

"Oh lord." Gray put a hand over his face to cover up his blush and sat down in one of the bar seats with a sigh.

At least the pink-haired dragonslayer wasn't here to witness this. He'd still hear about it, but that wasn't nearly as bad. ... Right? He groaned at the thought.  
_ _ _ _ _

He breathed in the fresh, cool night air, stretching lazily. It was already pretty late, around nine thirty. Most of the guild members had already gone home. He wasn't sure why he was still hanging around. Something told him that he was to stay put or face something painful. He decided to trust his intuition.

A soft sigh interrupted his thoughts.

He looked down to see a head of vibrant red hair, shimmering dimly in the pale street lights. She was sitting at the bottom of the steps, her arms hugging her knees which were pulled up to her chest.

Common sense screamed at him to get the hell away before she noticed he was there. But his gut feeling told him to talk to her.

"Ezra?"

Her head whipped around quickly. "Oh... Gray." Her body relaxed when her scarlet-brown eyes fell on him. The surprised expression on her face melted into a grimace. She turned her back to him again.

"Is something wrong?" Gray raised an eyebrow at the frown on her beautiful face. She definitely wasn't mad anymore. She seemed more troubled. He lowered himself by her side.

"You don't look too happy."

"... I'm not satisfied," Ezra replied softly.

"With what?" He sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry."

"W-What?" Gray stared at her, shocked. This was surprising. Ezra? Apologizing? This was more than surprising. It kind of scared him...

"For what?"

She looked away. "About earlier... the bet."

Pause.

"I... didn't beat you fairly, I think. I just threatened you into saying what you didn't want to." The armor mage sounded guilty. "It doesn't feel right."

He chuckled. It was rare to see Ezra so meek and cute. "Hey, that's a first."

She shot a glare at him which shut him up for a moment. Ezra paused before continuing.

"I feel like I should've given you an actual chance." She ran a finger through her locks of red hair. "Fair and square."

"About that... I think in the end, you would've won anyway."

She stared at him. An embarrassed expression was taking over his face.

"You're very beautiful, Ezra," he mumbled, pink tinting his handsome features. He scratched his head, looking the other way. "I'm sorry I lied. It's not that I don't feel attracted to you. I just feel like it's not right."

A pause.

She opened her mouth. "Not right... how?" she asked in a soft voice.

He made a frustrated sound turning back to her. "I feel like... you're too good for me, you know!" He blinked, realizing what he just said and quickly turned away blushing. "N-Never mind." He got up quickly. "Forget what I said."

Ezra caught his hand and squeezed it. She looked down to hide her pink blush. "I... don't think I'm too good for you. You're strong, Gray."

He paused, staring down at their clasped hands. "Ezra...?"

"I'm sorry," she continued. "I was... I think I was mad at you for saying I was so plain and boyish. I didn't mean to embarrass you like that in front of the whole guild." She looked up at him, a blush framing her beautiful features. "I really care about what you think of me..."

He bent down. "You mean to say you..." He pointed at himself, flustered at her expression of affection.

She looked away but nodded.

He couldn't believe it. The woman he wouldn't openly admit to liking... was confessing her feelings. God is cruel. Or at least playfully evil.

"Ezra..."

She glanced sideways at him, still embarrassed.

"Can I kiss you?"

Automatically in reaction, she sent a fist out at his face. He caught it, his expression sincere. "I'm not playing around, Ezra. I'm serious."

She couldn't look him in the eye. She found that the sign on the other side of the street was very interesting to look at. He knew her answer and tilted his head from his awkward half-standing position to kiss her.

He kissed her softly, desperately, but fiercely at the same time. His lips were gentle against hers, but he kissed her with a sort of urgency as if unsure. He reclined himself over her. She leaned back unconsciously to fend off the weight of his body.

"Gray... stop...," she mumbled against his lips as she felt her back hit the ground.

He wasn't listening. He bent over her, continuing on.

A minute and a half later, he pulled away to stare into her scarlet-brown eyes, breathless.

She stared back at him for a long moment before realizing one crucial thing. "Gray... your clothes...!"

"What?" He looked down at himself only to find that his shirt was half shrugged off, one arm still through one side. His pants were lowered to reveal part of his boxers. After observing himself, he realized that he was also kneeling over her possessively. He blinked and looked at her.

He watched as she steadily turned a darker shade of pink.

"You pervert! You were planning to take this farther!"

"No, wait, I swear!" he started, panicking. "It's just natural reflex! You know I have a stripping habit!"

"Have some shame!" Ezra kneed him angrily in the side.

He rolled away on the ground, clutching his side with a groan.

She sat up and quickly started down the empty road, her flustered blush still incasing her beautiful face.

Gray paused. _Oh wait... it doesn't hurt. _He glanced down at his side, where he thought a bruise would be blossoming, but there was nothing there. He smirked. He rolled onto his stomach, cupping a hand over his mouth.

"We'll take it farther next time!" he called after her playfully.

"I'll beat you to pulp if you try anything!" she yelled back, but couldn't help smiling all the while.

NO PERVERTED COMMENTS AND OR REQUESTS IN REVIEWS. RUDE REVIEWS WILL RESULT IN THE STORY BEING TAKEN DOWN. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE AUTHOR.


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